Ok I know World cup is pushing it a bit and it's a bit Northern, but love a bit of league and shall be well up for watching this over the next month or so. Anybody else gonna be watching? England v the convicts tomm at 10 am...should be a good one!

As someone who doesn’t follow Rugby league but has friends in Sydney and Brisbane who do I must say I have never seen them post anything about Australia but they go a bit mental taking the piss out of each other when it is Queensland v New South Wales.That’s where the real passion is and international rugby league seems a bit of an afterthought when you have won 11 ( ELEVEN) World Cups 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

Well the wait goes on! Great game though, proper brutal and gave it there all, so cant ask for much more than that. Shame the Aussies dont really give a fuck about international games, cos thats what the game needs more off . Anyway roll on the Kiwis series next year.

Used to get 45,000 at Subiaco Oval on a Tuesday afternoon in the early days.Think the enthusiasm was more from West Australians and South Australians who hated the Vics stealing ‘our’ players.There were some cracking games and some great WA players .... Maurice Rioli, Glendinning, Buckenara , Bosustow, Ken Hunter, Jimmy & Phil Krakouer etcOnce the AFL started and Perth people had the Eagles from 1987 State of origin was a bit pointless and faded away.

State of origin in rugby league is a concept RL borrowed from Australian Rules.Before the AFL started with interstate teams the Victorian Football League was the peak competition and those in WA and SA fed them with players.Victoria (with all the top interstate players) obviously virtually always beat WA & SA so in 1977 they played a game in Perth where all the players reverted to their home states I was there and the Sandgropers kicked the cunt out of the Vics by about 15 goals.With the draft and the AFL the concept has lost a lot of its point

When you have a 3/4 full stadium and most of those bugger off at the final whistle you know it's not much of an event. Very much a minority and regional sport.As for those scrums, why the fuck do they bother? Risible.

The ref not being from a 3rd country isn't ideal, but NZ's best ref is Henry Perenara who isn't good enough. Anyway, the refs are taking shit from the players every week, so aren't going to give them favours. And Australia have dominated GB/England in matches reffed by English refs for at least 40 years.

I don't know what the crowd was, but I think there's a lot of complacency for Australia games. They all seemed to bugger off on full time as well. The real passion is for state of origin which would sell out that stadium several times over. Mal Meninga (incidentally the holder of the world's shortest political career) has been trying to reverse that, but there isn't a more intense tournament than origin in either code. Aussie rules has tried the same concept, but the public never got into it, and the same in English RL where they used to have the roses game between Yorks and Lancs.

Personally, I didn't enjoy the game much. I'm just relieved that England didn't win.

If that idiot Southgate has anything about him, he will make our National football team watch the real passion in putting on that England shirt, and playing for your life's!! RL not my game, but fair play, those lad gave it there all. And got to agree how can you NOT have a neutral ref for a final??

fivetide.... RU players seem to settle in RL a lot easier than the other way round... can only think of Robinson for England who was top notch in Union... plenty of others went the other way and starred ...

Not my code to follow but enjoyable game that... shame that at the end... breaks the tackle with 2 inside him and goes for a grubber... few wrong decisions cost them... Oz were out on their feet with 10 to go